Skip to primary navigation Skip to main content
0 item $0.00

Ms Taylah Gaynor

BSc(Hon), La Trobe University

Taylah is a PhD Candidate in the Cardiac Cellular Systems Laboratory having been granted a La Trobe University — Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute Joint Scholarship in 2019 under the supervision of Dr Alex Pinto, Prof Grant Drummond and Prof Chris Sobey. Taylah’s project focussed on understanding how adipose tissue (fat) changes in the context of type-2 diabetes. Taylah used single-cell and nucleus RNA sequencing paired with tissue clearing, immunofluorescence staining and high-resolution imaging. This work has highlighted key cellular and molecular drivers of adipose tissue dysfunction in a diseased state and sex differences that exist in mice with and without diabetes. In 2020, Taylah was granted a competitive RhD Student Grant from the Defence Science Institute at Melbourne University to support her through her studies. Moreover, she was later awarded the Bakers prestigious Rod Andrews Award for the best student presentation at the institute’s internal symposium. Most recently, Taylah received the ECR Basic Science Award, and Runner-up and People’s Choice Awards for oral presentations at the 2022 International Congress on Obesity and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand Annual Scientific Meeting, respectively.

Previously, Taylah completed a Bachelor of Science at La Trobe University in 2017 where she majored in Genetics and Microbiology. Following this, she completed an Honours year (2018) in Microbiology within a molecular parasitology laboratory working with malaria parasites.

Achievements

  • ECR Basic Science Stream Oral Presentation Award, International Congress on Obesity, Melbourne (2022)
  • Best PhD Oral Presentation Award, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute EMCR Symposium (2022)
  • People’s Choice ECI Oral Presentation Award, Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand 70th Annual Scientific Meeting, Gold Coast (2022)
  • Runner-up ECI Oral Presentation Award, Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand 70th Annual Scientific Meeting, Gold Coast (2022)
  • International Society of Heart Research Travel Award, Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand 70th Annual Scientific Meeting, Gold Coast (2022)
  • Prestigious Rod Andrews Award Recipient, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute (2021)
  • Selected mentee for competitive Industry Mentoring Network in STEM (IMNIS) Program, Academy of Technology and Engineering (2020)
  • Competitive RhD Student Grant, Defence Science Institute (DSI), Melbourne University (2020)
  • Full Research Training Program (RTP) joint La Trobe University – Baker Institute Scholarship (2019)

Support us

With the rising number of Australians affected by diabetes, heart disease and stroke, the need for research is more critical than ever.

Find out more